Virus News and Research

Latest Virus News and Research

Vaccination uptake found to be critical to limiting COVID-19 transmission during variant-driven surges

US states with low vaccination rates bore the brunt of the COVID-19 surge caused by the Delta variant during the summer of 2021, says a study published today in eLife.

21 Jun 2022

Females are more likely to suffer from Long COVID than males, study reveals

A new study published today in the peer-reviewed journal Current Medical Research and Opinion, reveals that females are "significantly" more likely to suffer from Long COVID than males and will experience substantially different symptoms.

21 Jun 2022

Study finds traditional African drug inhibits growth of SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers evaluated the efficacy of PHELA, a traditional African drug, against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro.

21 Jun 2022

How specific comorbidities impact severity of COVID-19

Researchers identify the association between severe COVID-19 and specific comorbidities.

20 Jun 2022

Is SARS-CoV-2 a seasonal virus?

In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* pre-print server, scientists at Pfizer Inc determined whether coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case rates in the United States (US) and European (EU) nations followed a seasonal pattern using a time series model.

20 Jun 2022

UTSW study provides a potential avenue for the development of new antivirals against influenza

A collaborative study from UT Southwestern scientists has identified a new function for a protein called TAO2 that appears to be key to inhibiting replication of the influenza virus, which sickens millions of individuals worldwide each year and kills hundreds of thousands.

20 Jun 2022

Researchers assess monkeypox clinical management guidelines worldwide

A new study demonstrated the scarcity of appropriate clinical management guidelines for monkeypox infections across the globe.

20 Jun 2022

The feasibility of sperm cryopreservation for male COVID-19 patients

In an article recently published in Frontiers in Endocrinology, scientists deciphered the possibility of cryopreserving sperm of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients

20 Jun 2022

Scientists explore brainstem circuits to find nausea intervention strategies

In a new study, researchers uncovered the organization of nausea-associated brainstem circuits to show that selectively blocking the excitatory neurons responsive to nausea-promoting growth/differentiation factor 15 suppresses nausea-related behaviors.

20 Jun 2022

SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern exhibit divergent interactions with host proteases

In a recent study posted to the bioRxiv* preprint server, researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College assessed the cleavability of the spike (S) protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants of concern (VOCs) and related coronaviruses by several proteases of the host.

19 Jun 2022

Gut microbiome acts on the brain to control appetite

Hypothalamic GABAergic neurons recognize microbial muropeptides through the cytosolic receptor NOD2, which regulates food intake and body temperature.

19 Jun 2022

Combating monkeypox during COVID-19

Scientists describe the global prevalence and significance of the current monkeypox virus outbreak.

19 Jun 2022

Disease ecologist receives $3.5 million to take modeling to the next level with EpiMoRPH

Mathematical modeling - which combines math, statistics, computing and data - is a critical tool for public health professionals, who use it to study how diseases spread, predict the future course of outbreaks and evaluate strategies for controlling epidemics.

18 Jun 2022

Research may open door to the design of a better structured rabies vaccine

Rabies virus kills a shocking 59,000 people each year, many of them children. Some victims, especially kids, don't realize they've been exposed until it is too late.

17 Jun 2022

Researchers analyze SARS-CoV-2 virus transmission by speech aerosols during short conversations

When a person sneezes or coughs, they can potentially transmit droplets carrying viruses like SARS-CoV-2 to others in their vicinity.

17 Jun 2022

Demonstrating varying pathogenicity and tropism of SARS-CoV-2 variants in a feline model

In a recent study posted to the bioRxiv* pre-print server, researchers at Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign compared the infection dynamics, pathogenicity, and tissue tropism of multiple severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants in adult cats.

17 Jun 2022

GPR183 gene a novel drug target for severe COVID-19

In a recent study posted to the bioRxiv* pre-print server, researchers provide the first preclinical evidence of the usefulness of antagonists of G-protein coupled receptor 183 (GPR183), also known as Epstein-Barr virus-induced gene 2 (EBI2), in reducing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity.

17 Jun 2022